System Change

Watching Silvi as they continued to run the avian dungeon was a treat. Derek’s little murder bunny companion was basically in heaven, as she seriously selected the best birds for cooking during each entry. He had heard the phrase over and over back on Earth, but Silvi truly was like a kid in a candy store.

Now, the avian dungeon was much simpler to complete and restart than the golem dungeon before. Since the golem dungeon had time limits on each wave, there was a minimum amount of time that they had to stay in the dungeon each time they entered. The avian dungeon, however, did not have any of those limits, so completing it was all based on ability, and Alanah’s ability to clear such a dungeon was second to none. Derek was sure that not even he could clear a whole dungeon as fast as Alanah could clear this one.

All of that meant that the whole group was rapidly completing the dungeon in minutes each time. And since each person who could gain the rewards had some version of the Repetitive Dungeoneer Achievement, it meant that the flow of extra ingredients for cooking almost never stopped. Silvi’s already liked the siren, but the bunny’s affection for the siren increased with every reward, as all the ingredients were given directly to her.

However, all good things had to come to an end. Alanah was putting everyone else before herself, so when the time came that Silvi killed a bird and their level jumped to level 245, Derek had to be the bad guy and call it. They had completed the dungeon more than enough times. Luckily, the combination of Alanah and her Deathsworn had greatly increased the speed of completion, so by the time Silvi hit her limits, they hadn’t yet stayed in the dungeon for as long as Alanah had planned.

Derek was even beginning to feel bad—like he was taking advantage of the siren. It seemed like most of the dungeons the woman had picked out were all to help Derek or his people. She could say that she picked them because they were interesting, which they may have actually been, but they still all had the underlying effect of helping Derek.

“Okay, Silvi,” Derek said with a clap of his hands after they exited the dungeon for what he planned to be the last time. “You hit level 245. That was your last dungeon run.”

“But what about all the chickens?” the bunny whined. “Just think of the meals I can cook.”

“Look,” Derek continued. “Your skill has already hit level 6 in this short amount of time. And your Void Lightning Bolt is only one level away from 20. Not to mention that your storage ring is already bursting at the seems with birds and other cooking ingredients. Alanah has been very kind and generous to us. It is time for us to do the same. Do you understand?”

The little bunny pouted, but eventually nodded her head.

“Besides,” Derek started. “You have all those new ingredients, and all those juicy birds that you killed with your skill. Isn’t it time that you go use some and see exactly what the skill does for you? I certainly wouldn’t turn down any fried chicken if you were to go cook up some.”

“You’re right!” Silvi’s eyes brightened and all traces of sadness left her cute little face. “I’m going to go do that now! And I’m going to talk to the beautiful, delicious cookie stealer about getting a portable kitchen.” She nodded seriously.

“That’s a good idea,” Derek said. “Definitely something you should do.”

Derek instantly felt the dread that came from opening a portal with their Void Travel skill and realized that Silvi wasn’t taking her time at all. Soon, the portal appeared behind her and Silvi conjured a pot with a lid out of her Void Creation skill. She tossed all her storage items in the pot and slightly lowered her body to prepare to hop inside.

“Wait!” Derek half-shouted before the bunny jumped in.

“What?” Silvi turned and looked at Derek.

“Well, we just made it to level 245. You know what that means?” There was another reason that Derek gave Silvi that particular level cap.

“What does that mean?” the bunny asked.

“It means that we just received 105 free stat points to use,” Derek answered.

Silvi’s eyes went blank, and she stared in the distance—seemingly not looking at anything—for a moment. “Oh,” she finally said when her eyes refocused. “You want to increase strength before I start cooking.” She nodded seriously a few times. “Good idea. Don’t want to interfere in my fried chicken.”

“No… well… yes,” Derek replied. “But it’s more than just that.” His gazed moved over to Alanah, and since he had stopped keeping secrets from the woman, he continued, “This will put all of our stats over the 1,500 point cap, and I’m not sure what will happen.”

“I see,” Alanah said as she lowered her head in thought. “Well, it is something that you and you alone control, so if you are unsure, you could always wait to do so. Though, I have to admit, I am beyond curious as to what will happen myself.”

“Me too,” Derek replied.

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“There is a possibility that you could quite possibly end up with another requirement and have to prepare to ascend as I have. It could also just be an achievement or some other increase.” Alanah let them know her thoughts on the matter. “All of this, and you are still not even level 250. I would be shocked if you did not earn some kind of reward. I am not sure, but I believe that something like this has not happened before within the so-called Great System.”

“All of that is true,” Derek said as he rubbed his chin. Am I ready to ‘ascend?’ Is there a way to take everyone with me? Can I actually do so with Time Prison? Where the hell is Dave when you need him? If I do gain the ability to ascend, could I just take Alanah with me, along with everyone else? Derek’s eyes brightened as he questioned everything. I am sure that I would ascend to a different place—one controlled by the Origin System. There is no way that it wouldn’t be a better place than wherever Alanah is ascending to. And I doubt her ascension will turn into a descension.

“Alanah,” Derek finally said after giving everything much thought.

“Yes?” she answered.

“If I ascend, I am sure it will be different that your own. One to an even… better place.” Derek had a hard time explaining it all without being able to mention the Origin System. “I may have a way to take you and everyone else with me if I do. Would you be willing?” he asked. He also didn’t want to get her hopes up, though. “That is if this is one of the requirements in my advancement, of course.”

“Would I be willing?” Alanah repeated his question. “Willing to go to a place where I can gain even more power? To a place where I can continue to stay with and help my friends… and family?” After saying all of that, the siren chuckled to herself. “Of course I would be willing to do all of that. That is sort of a no-brainer, is it not?”

“I guess it is, isn’t it?” Derek said. “In that case, there is no reason for me to hesitate.” Derek steeled himself. Then, under the gazes of both Alanah and Silvi, he distributed 69 stat points into strength to break through on his final stat.

All of Derek’s muscles bulged and tightened. He felt as if they were going to rip right out of his skin. He felt his body grow bigger and bigger—his clothing and armor becoming tighter and tighter. While he still had his conscious mind, he hurriedly sent his armor into his storage bracelet. His clothing underneath had some stretch to them, so he didn’t believe he needed to worry about those.

As his muscles tore and restored themselves with every beat of his heart, he clenched his fists to make it through the pain—and it was painful, but he’d had much worse pain before. Breaking through in strength wasn’t as bad as basically every part of his body being rebuilt when he broke through with his vitality and endurance. The fact that he already had those two stats at that stage may have helped, as well.

He felt his body grow bigger and smaller over and over. If nothing else, this breakthrough was more tiring than the others. But finally, after what seemed like ages, the breakthrough stopped and his body went back to the size it was pre-breakthrough.

Derek looked down at his hands once everything was finished, just to see that they looked completely the same. After a quick thought, he summoned his armor back onto his body, twisted around, and stretched to make sure everything fit the same. It did.

When all was done, he turned his head and looked over at Alanah, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked, scared that something had gone terribly wrong.

“N-nothing…” the siren said. “It’s just that… both you and Silvi broke through at the same time.”

“Yes?” Derek said. Alanah already knew that was what would happen. “What about it?”

“I was prepared to see the effects of you breaking through—as a human… but Silvi…” Alanah took a breath. “She doubled in size multiple times… became super… muscled. She looked so… strange.”

“Oh…” Derek laughed. Unfortunately, he was busy with his own breakthrough and hadn’t been able to see what happened with Silvi. Actually, after Alanah mentioned it, he was disappointed that he hadn’t seen what happened with Silvi at each breakthrough they had together. Alas, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Mhm…” Silvi’s voice rang out from her communication crystal—which was on the ground with her paw on another. “Didn’t like that. Prefer small and agile. Being buff in the kitchen would make things… harder.”

At that, both Derek and Alanah burst out laughing. “You are right, Silvi. Being oversized with all those muscles just wouldn’t be right for us.”

Finally, he turned his gaze back to Alanah and took a breath.

“Well?” Alanah asked, the mood turning more serious than ever.

“Give me a minute,” Derek said. He saw notifications flashing in the corner of his vision. It all came down to what they said. Would he be ascending? Or was it just another breakthrough? He took another deep breath, then opened the first notification.

Congratulations

You have brought your strength to the maximum system allotment. You are at the top of users in ‘The Great System’ in strength. Be proud of yourself as few users ever reach such heights.

The first notification was the normal spiel that he had received and ignored pretty much every time that he brought one of his stats to the 1,500 point cap. Again, he ignored the general notification and dismissed it. The next notification was different, and it brought with it more meaning.

…

Congratulations!

New Title unlocked!

User cannot currently receive Titles.

…

That was a notification he had seen before, back when he evolved. He had other Titles waiting for him for whenever he advanced—at least, if that was how it worked. The notification also showed him that, even though the Origin System seemed to have gone, it was still somehow watching Derek, even if it wasn’t completely focused on him anymore. Surprisingly, the next notification was from the Origin System, as well, and actually answered one of his questions.

…

Advance to receive unlocked Titles.

One out of two requirements met for advancement!

Meet more requirements for advancement.

Congratulations on all your current accomplishments!

We eagerly await your future achievements!

…

Derek breathed a breath of disappointment. He just knew that getting all of his stats to 1,500 points was going to do it.

“Well?” Alanah eagerly asked again.

“No advancement,” Derek said, dejected.

“It was a long shot anyway,” Alanah said. “Did you receive anything at all?”

Derek moved his eyes to the final notification he hadn’t opened yet. With a thought, he opened it—it was an Achievement. As Dave had said, some Achievements and Titles were universal, and it appeared that he had just unlocked another one.

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